Lady Panthers upset by Sparta in first round of regionals
The Pinckneyville Lady Panthers season came to an end Monday night, as they fell to conference foe Sparta in the first round of regional play, 61-48.
Despite having topped the Lady Bulldogs twice in the regular season, Pinckneyville was unable to overcome strong second and third-quarter performances.
Both teams opened up cold on the offensive side of the ball, with Sparta's Amayla Henry knocking down a layup two minutes into the first.
Caitlyn Anderson ended Pinckneyville's early scoring drought, knocking down a mid-range shot to tie the game at two halfway through the first.
Sparta managed to regain the lead, 2-4, later in the first on a basket from Maddie Ethington, but that would be the extent of their first-quarter offense. Megan Breslin closed out the first for Pinckneyville, tying up the game with a pair of makes from the charity stripe with less than a minute in the first, tying the game at four heading into the second.
The Lady Panthers took their first lead of the game a little over a minute into the second quarter, as Raygan Yates found Kiya Hagene for a layup in transition.
But, that would prove to be Pinckneyville's last lead of the game as Sparta started to heat up on offense.
Henry knocked down a three from the wing to give the Lady Bulldogs the lead back, 7-6 and spark a 7-0 run as Danielle Dodson followed up with a pair of baskets.
Yates responded with a three from the wing to cut the Sparta lead to just two, 11-9. She knocked down a mid-range jumper shortly after, responding to another Sparta basket to keep within two.
Sparta extended the lead afterwards, knocking down a three and layup as they jumped out 18-11 late in the second.
After another bucket from Yates, the Lady Bulldogs continued to pull away, scoring five unanswered as a pair of free throws gave them double-digit lead, 23-13, with just under a minute left in the half.
Hagene cut the lead back down to single digits, knocking down a three-pointer with 13 seconds left in the quarter as Pinckneyville headed into halftime behind, 23-16.
Both teams traded baskets to open the third before a three-point play from Dodson gave the Lady Bulldogs a 30-20 lead less than three minutes into the quarter.
A free throw from Breslin and Yate's second three of the game pulled Pinckneyville back within single-digits, 30-24, but Sparta maintained control.
The Lady Bulldogs closed out the quarter on a 12-5 run, scoring the last five points of the quarter to take a 42-29 lead into the fourth.
Spara extended its lead to 50-36 midway through the fourth. Pinckneyville made one final push, cutting the lead to single digits, 53-44, with Mayci Doerflein converting on a putback with a little over two minutes left to play.
But, Sparta's defense locked down to close out the game, as they took a 58-44 lead a little over a minute to play, proving to be enough to cruise to a win in the first round of regional play.